Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q29

Q.29. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus” meaning “savior”?

A. Because he saves us from our sins.  Salvation cannot be found in anyone else; it is futile to look for any salvation elsewhere.

Monday

How many dogs have you known named “Spot” or cats named “Socks?  We can probably all think of at many, and frequently these animals received their names because of some distinguishing marks on their bodies.  They were the embodiment of their names.  The same is true of Jesus.  Read Matthew 1:21.  When the angel came and named the baby that Mary was to bear, he named him Jesus because he would embody that name.  He would save people from their sins.  Consider all the things that Jesus has saved you from.

Tuesday

As I think about all the things that Jesus saves me from, I am most thankful that he saves me from the wrath of God the Father.  As a sinner, I deserve God’s wrath and anger.  I deserve to be punished for all the wrong I perform, but Jesus saves me from my sins and therefore saves me from the wrath that is attached to my sin.  No sin = no wrath.  That is wonderful news and it happens because Jesus completely and totally saves me from any semblance of sin.  Sins shadow doesn’t even fall on the believer because of Christ.  Read Hebrews 7:24-75 and 1 John 1:7.

Wednesday

Can anyone or anything else save us like Jesus?  Absolutely not, we learned that in 14^th and 15^th question of the catechism.  But let us review it here.  God’s justice requires that sin be punished by his complete wrath.  In order to be saved from God’s wrath we need a savior who can take all of our sin and hold it upon himself while God pours his wrath out upon it because sin cannot be tolerated in His presence.  This requires a savior who is both human and divine, namely God himself must be our savior, and so Jesus is God incarnate, the only one who can save us from our sins.  He is the only one, because God is one.  Therefore salvation must be found in this one God alone.  Read Deuteronomy 6:4 and Hebrews 9:28.

Thursday

Peter preached this very message to the Jewish rulers.  Read Acts 4:8-12.  Peter understood that Jesus alone was the savior.  In a world increasingly bent on making Jesus one among many religious figures who are attempting to save people, Peter’s words stand as a strong reminder of what is at stake: Either we are saved by Jesus or we and not saved at all. Read Isaiah 43:11-12.

Friday

There are 4 things of great importance taught in this question.  The first two are this.  Jesus is the only one who saves and he save us, his people, from their sins.  He does not save everyone, but only those given to him by the Father.  We are his special possession, his people.  We must never forget that.  We, the church, confess that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead after pouring out his wrath upon him on the cross.  Let us never forget these two truths. Read John 17:9, 24.

Saturday

The other two things of great importance are that Jesus saves us from our sins and he does it by his sinless life and his resurrection from the dead.  Jesus doesn’t save us from failure, or poverty, or mistakes, but from sin, our deliberate and accidental violation of God’s holy and righteous law to love him and others.  Furthermore he saves us by dying as the Passover lamb and by being resurrected from the dead.  Without both of these occurring there is no salvation for his people.  Read 1 Corinthians 5:7, 15:13-17, and Hebrews 9:26.